The Establishment of British Administration in Mamprugu, 1898-1937
1975; Volume: 16; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0855-3246
Autores Tópico(s)African history and culture analysis
ResumoShortly after the conclusion of the Anglo-French Convention of June 1898 which established the 11th latitude north parallel as the northern boundary of the Northern Territories Protectorate, Governor Hodgson took up with Lt.-Col. H. P. Northcott, the first Commandant of the Protectorate what he termed 'the important question as to the best way of administering for the good of trade the large tract of country' which had been brought under the Gold Coast administration. In a letter setting out his views on the subject, Northcott claimed that given 4he present condition of the country', that is the Northern Territories, 'the application of a rigid and minute system of administration was impolitic, even if it were practicable'. The primary task of the administration, therefore, was to acquaint itself with the nature of the country, its inhabitants, and its resources and on the data thus acquired base a scheme of government of 'the simplest and most economical form, sufficiently elastic to adapt itself to any development that may take place'. By 'the present condition of the country', Northcott explained that he had in mind the widespread fears of poor harvests and attendant famine; the depressed state of the trade between the Northern Territories and the Hausa and Mossi states; the possibility that this trade would either be extinguished altogether or reduced in importance and extent because of the permanent appropriation by France and Germany of portions of the major routes that ran from the Mossi and Hausa states to the Northern Territories; and finally the disintegration of almost all the centralised states as a result of 'the ravages of Samory, Babatu, Amarhia and other free lances'. There were at least two other factors which probably influenced Northcott's proposals, though he did not mention them. The first of these was the size of the protectorate: it was a 'large tract of country' indeed some 40,000 square miles altogether. Moreover, although this was about the same size as England, the poor state of its communications made it seem, in the estimate of Col. Watherston, as much as forty times bigger. 1 The second factor was the state of insecurity that prevailed in most parts of the protectorate during the last three decades of the nineteenth century. Most accounts of the period, both written and oral, suggest that brigandage was common and was increasing. There was also a recrudescence of inter-state and inter-clan skirmishes: the Mamprusi and Gonja, for instance, resumed their clashes on the western fringes of Mamprugu. Finally, mention can be made of a number of civil wars two in Gonja (1892-3) and (1895-6), and at least one in Dagbon (1888) which broke out during the period. 2
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